Jeremy Vine calls for drivers to be banned from overtaking cyclists in cities

[matticus]

I regard Vine's cycling videos as doing more damage to cycling/cyclists than help

Until Jeremy Cl**kson and his followers recant and beg for forgiveness, I think there is room for someone with a high profile putting an opposing view. Ideally a Jeremy.

(Even if you don't like Vine's tone, in reality he is very rarely wrong. The exact opposite applies to the other Jeremy ...)

 

[Binky]

Having watched a few of Vines videos it's pretty obvious click bait stuff. His intentions are good, wanting the roads to be safer for vulnerable road users but the way he goes about it was bound to cause issues. Similar to Cycling Mikey.

 

[matticus]

Having watched a few of Vines videos it's pretty obvious click bait stuff. His intentions are good, wanting the roads to be safer for vulnerable road users but the way he goes about it was bound to cause issues. Similar to Cycling Mikey.

Should Mikey just note all the drivers in a little black book, stored carefully in his study? Don't want to cause any upset, do we?

 

[Binky]

No he should do what I and other sensible people do which is report any offences and let police deal with it. Rather than insult, abuse and confrontation. Plus he has a rather dubious habit of peering into cars when there is a female driver.

 

[Gwylan]

Vine is a maroon.

Goes up quickly, makes a noise and disappears?

 

[Punkawallah]

Goes up quickly, makes a noise and disappears?

Just so.

 

[presta]

From the hundreds of videos I've seen on Twitter, I'd say that cyclists in general need to pick their battles more carefully, and be more selective what they post. There are far too many trivial incidents that serve only to hide and draw attention from the serious ones, and that's just counterproductive. Trivial videos that are too easy to criticise are a gift on a plate to anyone wanting to discredit cyclists, because motorists naturally look for the easy ones.

I said this to Jeremy Vine. One of the last videos of his that I commented on before he blocked me was a MGIF transit van pushing past in a choke point where the road narrowed from two lanes to one, with railings on the offside of the van. It was a fair complaint, but he shot himself in the foot by including the last 5 seconds of the video which showed him turning right past a No Entry sign the wrong way into a one way street. Guess what all the motorists wanted to talk about.

It's not as if there's any shortage of serious incidents to post.

 

[icowden]

but he shot himself in the foot by including the last 5 seconds of the video which showed him turning right past a No Entry sign the wrong way into a one way street. Guess what all the motorists wanted to talk about.

Was it definitely just a one way street? There are quite a few in London where cyclists are permitted to travel the wrong way up the one way street.

 

[Alex321]

Should Mikey just note all the drivers in a little black book, stored carefully in his study? Don't want to cause any upset, do we?

No, he should simply report them to the police, with video evidence.

It is him confronting them while videoing that starts turning it into clickbait, and may even be counter-productive.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

From the hundreds of videos I've seen on Twitter, I'd say that cyclists in general need to pick their battles more carefully, and be more selective what they post. There are far too many trivial incidents that serve only to hide and draw attention from the serious ones, and that's just counterproductive. Trivial videos that are too easy to criticise are a gift on a plate to anyone wanting to discredit cyclists, because motorists naturally look for the easy ones.

I said this to Jeremy Vine. One of the last videos of his that I commented on before he blocked me was a MGIF transit van pushing past in a choke point where the road narrowed from two lanes to one, with railings on the offside of the van. It was a fair complaint, but he shot himself in the foot by including the last 5 seconds of the video which showed him turning right past a No Entry sign the wrong way into a one way street. Guess what all the motorists wanted to talk about.

It's not as if there's any shortage of serious incidents to post.

There is a problem that anyone shouting about drivers breaking the law where they cause no incident

then has to be whiter than white themselves

especially on the same video!!!

 

[icowden]

There is a problem that anyone shouting about drivers breaking the law where they cause no incident
then has to be whiter than white themselves especially on the same video!!!

Absolutly. Quite a few years back I was cycling to Waterloo down Belveder Road (past the Royal Festival Hall, London Eye etc) and a black cab cut me up - super close pass - nearly knocked me off my bike. Then almost t-boned the cyclist in front of me, turning left onto Concert Hall Approach. I had my bike camera on, caught up to him and remonstrated with him about his driving. He called me a c*nt and drove off. Being really shaken and being past the Sutton walk cut through to the station, I continued round to the crossing for the station via the pavement (as opposed to cycling the whole way around the I-MAX and playing with 3 lanes of traffic).

Anyway, I submitted the footage to the Metropolitan Police, hoping that they might have words with his license.

About 8 weeks I got a letter. I excitedly opened it hoping that they were telling me his license had been terminated or some such. Nope. It was a letter advising me that cycling on the footpath was illegal, and that I should consider myself warned. Never mind that both I and another cyclist had almost been badly injured. It was cycling at 5mph slowly on a pavement with no other pedestrians on that was dangerous.

Still makes me fume today.

 

[Electric_Andy]

My 2 pence worth on this is as follows:

1. "No overtaking cyclists in cities" is far too ambitious.
2. It suggests that there is no safe way to overtake a cyclist in a city, which is not true. The focus should be on "don't overtake anyone in an unsafe manner because that is part of the highway code that you must follow as a driver".
3. It also suggests that outside of cities, overtaking cyclists is not much of an issue. Plenty of dangerous overtakes take place outside of cities where the speed/danger is usually a lot higher.

It would be better I think to impose higher fines and tougher sentences on those who drive dangerously, especially around vulnerable road users. More should be taught in the driving test and the theory test. Deterrents rarely work these days unless it put's someone out of pocket substantially, or sends them to prison, or relieves them of their car and/or license to drive it. People no longer care about points and many just look upon them, and their higher insurance premiums, as an inconvience that has to be absorbed as part of the cost of motoring

 

[Binky]

The focus should be on "don't overtake anyone in an unsafe manner because that is part of the highway code that you must follow as a driver".

This applies everywhere not just in cities.
I live in a quiet rural/coastal area yet unfortunately I still get dangerous close passes far too often when I ride. Hence camera.